Outdoor Schools

I thought about saving up some money to spend a weekend doing some outdoor schools. Basic Wilderness First Aid and Basic Wilderness Survival. It expensive too!!! $155 for the former and $185 for the latter for two stinkin' days. I thought it be interesting to learn and I'll never know when those new skills would be needed. I'm just curious if anyone else have done these schools and if they're well worth the money. I know this question can get a relative reply varying on the instructors and you never know if you be in such situation. I mean you could learn by reading a lot of articles on Backpacker or on this website, as well as others and practice them at home before venturing out... Plant identifications and plant medicines are the ones I'm deeply curious about the most. The only plants I can identified are the two common poisonous ones: rhododendron and a family of poison ivy/oak.

I think one issue here is whether a person needs to attend the school as a prerequisite for something, or just wants the knowledge/experience. In the outdoor organization that I volunteer with, such classes often are required in order to be allowed to "graduate" in some other skill area, which in turn is required to be allowed to go on trips with the group.

Something interesting that I learned was how they sometimes handle "equivalencies". I.e., you claim that you already have the knowledge; do you have to take the class? For navigation, they passed me on that if (and only if) I helped to teach the class (!). An interesting refresher for me, I guess, and interesting to see how well (and/or poorly) I thought they had structured their class.

For first aid, I find that they often need live human dummies for scenarios. Is it possible (?) that if you don't need to "have the class on your record" that you could volunteer in such a way and then hang around in the back to listen to the material, and then get the book from the library before or after?

There's certainly no substitute for having an experienced person putting things to you directly, and in context. But you can get a lot from books or websites so ... really tough to say, especially not knowing what kind of trips you aspire to go on, whether you want to hike solo or not, what your current level of experience and knowledge is ...

Believe it or not, that seems like a reasonable price for a good class. Yelp it or find some other source of reviews to see if it seems like a quality program. For comparison, REI is collaborating with the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS to offer a 2-day class that teaches wilderness medicine skills for $220 for members. In my past life I have gone through years of CPR and first aid training (every year for that job) and I need to get my skills updated again and the one I mentioned is the one I will be taking. Especially when it is something you don't do very often, it is good to practice the skill so you are ready when you do need it. And you never know when that will be. In practice, when backpacking I usually only see blisters, wear spots (the older packs used to wear holes in various areas around the hip belt), or coming down with the flu or cold when on trail. The worst I have seen is 1 broken arm and 1 rattlesnake bite, both very avoidable. Oh yea...and of course, when a teenager, the self-inflicted knife wounds . Almost forgot acute mountain sickness...I've seen plenty of that.

General survival school could be good; again look for reviews. Also keep in mind that plant information will tend to be location specific. All interesting stuff if you ask me... good for you for getting on it!

Knowledge is a powerful tool and is probably the most important thing you will carry with you backpacking.

It's mostly just to learn things and gain experience in practice with instructor(s) pointing out constructive criticism. The details of the courses is here .

Personally, I feel I know how to survive if I'm carrying it! The courses at this time has no prerequisite to anything, it's mostly just personal thirst for knowledge. I'm just trying to justify on spending money for it. There is a guide service in Gatlinburg that takes people on backpacking and hiking trips and show beginners the rope on backpacking. That would be an interesting job to have for a season and Wilderness First Aid is a requirement for the job. I have asked them about whether they will be needing additional help for upcoming tourist season and they've got back to me with semi-good news. It's just an idea I was toying around in my head. Even If I don't do it or they choose other people, the classes could strongly benefit me one day, despite all the precautions I take..

Do note that the REI/NOLS WFA course does not include CPR. There's already too much info crammed into those 16 hours! You need to get CPR separately from your local American Red Cross chapter. These days, CPR includes training in the use of a portable electronic defibrillator, a piece of gear you won't have in the wilds, but increasingly common (and very useful) in more civilized parts. Often you can get free CPR training from your place of work or through an organization such as church or youth groups.

I notice they've really jacked up the prices for WFA; it was $200 for REI members last year! Worth every penny, though, IMHO!

Personally I am a bit skeptical about outdoor schools, especially "survival schools," although I would recommend first aid and emergency medicine courses that postulate a wild land setting. Sooner or later the course content will come in handy.

There is a lot you can learn from thoughtful reading and studying, combined with good outdoor trips. You might expect me to say this, since this is how I acquired knowledge in this area, well before anyone was formally teaching the subject. I found the AAC's "Accidents in American Mountaineering" annual volumes especially helpful, primarily because they had objective, detailed, and thorough discussions of events. I basically learned that unplanned bivouacs were pretty common and worth planning for. There is a lot of good information readily available - just don't expect to find any on your TV.

Another thing to consider is that what you learn in one section of the country is not as applicable in another. In Arizona, survival is all about water (at least during most of the year), which is probably not as prominent a factor in Tennessee.

There is also seasonal variation. Quite a few people in Arizona have problems with cold, rather than heat, and drowning is surprisingly common.

If you're interested in plant medicines and identification I'd recommend picking up a book on the flora and fauna of your area. There's usually some book to be found, and hiking through the bush with your book, looking up plants you come across is a great way to spend a weekend.

It is a shame that there no longer are as many outing clubs that offer free "schools" as there were when I started out. I started with the Spokane Mountaineers and they offered a free "mountain school" that included several months of classroom, outdoors one day each weekend, and then some really nice longer trips. Our textbook was "Freedom of the Hills".

Formal outdoor training is a good way to start. Like golf- you can pick it up yourself but probably will learn some bad habits and take a lot longer to become proficient. Getting a good start with an outdoor school or a mentor is ideal.

But, if you are already experienced, outdoor schools are very expensive for the incremental extra you will learn. I will say that the Wilderness Medicine courses are worth the $$ because there really are not other places to learn and practice these skills.

I was a NOLS instructor for 7 years. The students that got the most out of the courses were the ones who were in shape, had some camping (but not backpacking) and mostly ages 17-21. Older folks were already set in their ways and not open minded about learning. Younger kids lacked the maturity to get the most of the school. People who had not ever been outdoors spent too much time just trying to be comfortable outdoors. Having worked with long duration courses, I find it nearly impossible to teach a newbie to become a competent outdoors person in a week. We really felt that it took 30 days to do the job. The per-day cost of longer courses usually are less than the shorter courses.

Don't forget sumac. It can irritate the skin, but it's very dangerous if ingested. It's also pretty common, at least in my area.